Persona Ace: PAce
by AnexWorld
Summary: Persona Ace is an original work that takes place in the Persona universe starring a brand new cast of characters with some cameos and references to past events. PAce takes place in 2021 in the town of Suzuka, and follows Matoi Nakoto and his new friends as they try and stop the merging of two worlds. Love, drama, plot twists, everything you love about Persona. Yes, even Igor.
1. Prologue

A blue light flashes, cutting through the pitch black view of the room I was standing in, but it disappeared just as suddenly as it showed up in the first place, leaving me alone in that pitch black room again. The walls, if there even were any, were lost in that darkness; I could neither see nor feel them, no matter how hard I squinted or how far I reached out my hands. The only thing I could feel was a damp feeling in my feet. It felt as if I were standing in water, but the ground wasn't wet.

I shivered.

The room was growing increasingly cold by the second. It was slightly warm at first, but I could sense the temperature constantly dropping, and the wetness in my feet began to make them go numb. This numbness slowly spread throughout my body. I couldn't move; I was frozen in place. But I was unsure at that point if I was frozen because of the cold, or if it was something else entirely.

"Power comes from the inside, not the outside."

I hear a voice cut through the darkness. I can't see where the voice is coming from, and I can't respond to it either. I try, of course, but my voice won't come out no matter what I do. Instead, the voice continues.

"Your heart. Your soul. These are the true instruments of strength, that play each person's unique melody."

Power? Heart and soul? Instruments of strength? I don't understand what the voice is trying to say. What is this voice's message? Furthermore, what was this about a person's unique melody? I wish I could tell what it was trying to relay to me, but it was so cold now I was spending all of my energy just trying to stay conscious.

"This is true for all humans, including you. You are trapped in this darkness, frozen in place, and unable to act. You think you are in a hopeless situation, but as long as humans breathe, they are never hopeless."

I am trapped in this darkness. I am frozen. There is nothing I can do. I agree with that, even if I don't know how I got here in the first place. I don't even know what this place is, but I do know that this hope the voice is talking about, well I don't think I have it. Humans are never hopeless as long as they can breathe? I don't agree with that. What I believe is, sometimes, even if those times are the rarest of situations, there is just nothing you can do to change it. Humans can't have that power, they aren't gods. They can try to change things as much as they want, but sometimes there is just no way.

"I can tell you doubt my words, but in doing that you are only doubting your own thoughts."

I did the only thing I could do anymore. I lifted my head to look straight, at where I thought the voice was coming from. I couldn't ask a question, but if the voice knew I was having doubts, maybe it could hear my question in my mind. "What do you mean?"

"Curious are you? Power comes from the inside, not the outside. Your heart. Your soul. These are the true instruments of strength that play each person's unique melody. This is true for all humans, including you. You are trapped in this darkness, frozen in place, and unable to act. You think you are in a hopeless situation, but as long as humans breathe, they are never hopeless."

"You just said the same thing again. You didn't answer my question. What do you mean?"

"Your heart. Your soul. These are the true instruments of strength. Play your melody. Escape this darkness. Bring light into the world. Chase away the pain and free yourself from what holds you back. The ice that surrounds your heart. The ice that surrounds your soul."

"How? I… I want to. I really do, but I don't know how. I don't like it here. I don't like being frozen. Tell me how I can escape. Please!"

"You doubt yourself. You think you can't get out of trouble you run into on your own. Even worse, you think you'll have to face those troubles alone. You don't think you have the ability to seize your future, and until you do, you will be bound here forever."

"So what do I do? Ask for help? Ask who? No one is here but you and me, and all your cryptic answers aren't helping any. I…"

"You what?"

"I…"

"You what? Tell me! Tell me what it is!"

I look straight ahead trying to find the source of the voice in the darkness, but it's no use. I still don't see a thing, so with what little strength I can muster, I do what I feel must be done.

"I need someone to help me!"

I yell into the darkness, the voice I couldn't seem to find and the words I couldn't seem to say come out so easily, and when they do, I see that blue flash of light once again, but this time, I am no longer cold, and the room is no longer pitch black, now it is a peaceful blue, just like the light that previously flashed.

I thought to myself, "Is that the power that the voice was talking about, and speaking of the voice, where is the person that was talking to me."

I scanned the room in front of me, then I scanned the room behind me. I was the only person in the room.

"Where are you?" I called out into the room around me.

"I am everywhere you are and nowhere you are not."

"What? Stop being so cryptic. Where are you at? I don't see you."

"That is because it is not time for us to meet face to face yet, but that time will come soon. I can feel it, and I'm sure you can feel it too. In fact, I am positive you can for we are connected to each other after all."

"Connected? You just keep making me more and more confused. Who are you? What are you?"

"I am thou… and thou art I. I reside in thy heart and resonate with thy soul. Know my name as I know yours, Matoi Nakoto. I am Venus."

"Venus?" was all I could say before everything faded once again, and I opened my eyes slowly to a familiar sight. I was lying in my bed back home. It was all a dream, a vivid dream that felt so real, but it was all a dream. It was still dark, so I knew it was early in the morning, but so much happened in that dream I expected it to be later than it was. I rolled over to face my alarm clock and see what time it was. 12:01 am.

Definitely not time to get up yet.

I rolled back over and went back to sleep, but I didn't have another weird dream. Then again, I didn't notice my cell phone laying on the table with my alarm clock either. My cell phone with a lit up screen and a notification of a message I had received. I checked it when I woke up later that morning like I always do before I go to school, but the phone said the message was from a cell phone with no number, and all the message said was "It begins."

I shrugged it off as a prank and went downstairs to eat breakfast. Toast and eggs in the morning is always refreshing, no matter who you are or if you like toast and eggs. I sat on my couch playing a recent JRPG about recruiting demons to fight other demons until my best friend Shisuke Yamanato showed up on his bike, and by showed up I mean crashed his bike on the stairs for the third time this week. Before I went outside to meet him I smiled and imagined how awesome it was going to be this year in high school. I'm so glad we got into the same one. It made sense though, my family was close to the family of the principal and Shisuke is one of the smartest people I ever met. Well, at least when it comes to book smarts. He did just crash in the exact same spot again. Whatever, I'm looking forwards to the future. Even though that was just a dream I had, I took what Venus said to me to heart. If I'm ever in any kind of trouble, Shisuke has my back, and the school year just started, so we had a lot of chances to meet people and make new friends.


	2. Fool (I)

**The Fool (I)**

 _Welcome to the Velvet Room_

" _Men are fools, mankind is foolish, but a fool is not necessarily foolish. After all, a wise man cannot learn as much as a fool can."_

I exit the house, and of course I find Shisuke lying on the ground, rubbing his legs either because they hurt or because they are dirty. Or both.

I expect for him to learn his lesson, but he never does, and I honestly don't know if he ever will. Regardless, I offer him a hand and help pull him off the ground.

"You ok? That looked like a pretty rough fall."

"Yeah man, no worries. I… I don't know why I keep crashing right there; those steps get me every time. You know what I mean?"

No. I honestly have no idea what he means, but I'm not going to tell him that. Not because it would hurt his feelings. I have no qualms with that, trust me. I just don't feel like listening to one of his lectures on the way to school. I play along instead.

"Yeah, I get it. It's the stairs' fault you always run into them, not the fact that you never pay attention to where you're going."

Oops. Some sarcasm slipped through. Oh well.

"Exactly. I'm glad you get it. Most people wouldn't agree that I crashed because of the stairs, they'd say I am the one to blame. See, this is why we're friends. I have your back, and you know I'm not a screw up!"

Except, he IS the one to blame and he IS a screw up. I agree that he has my back though, out of all of my so called friends, he was the only one who always had my back. It was back then, during that incident at my old school, when I realized this to be a fact. Shisuke is my true friend, and my only one right now.

It was halfway through the school year last year when what Shisuke and I call the Norikama Incident. Norikama being the name of the school we went to back then, but I digress. I was relatively popular. I didn't have girls flocking to date me or anything, and I only received one, maybe two. (okay fine, three) love letters. The thing was, I was dating this girl that I had a crush on since I first saw her. She was athletic, smart, a good kisser, and really nice. Oh, did I say nice? That's not right.

See, the thing is, she was always hanging around with the popular crowd, and I was always hanging around with, well, Shisuke (Yeah, I know, not off to a good start). I didn't know what she was always laughing about with her friends, and to be honest I didn't really care. We were happy together. At least, I thought we were happy together.

I learned my lesson the hard way, on the day of the "incident." She asked me to meet her in the classroom and not thinking anything bad would happen, I went. But, when I got there, her clothes were scattered across the floor and she stood there up against the wall on the opposite site of the room in her underwear. I thought she had been attacked and ran to her rescue. Big mistake. I got close to her and she screamed. I thought I was going to go deaf.

"Pervert!" She yelled. Loudly. Repeatedly.

Our sensei came in and, well, he assumed I was the one who ripped her clothes off and, honestly, I couldn't blame him. I tried to plead my case, but I was calm thinking she would tell them the truth.

She did tell them the truth. Her truth. Not the rest of the world's truth. She told everyone that I had assaulted her and tried to have my way with her. I told them she was lying and was like that when I got there. I told them I was trying to help her. I wanted to make sure she was okay. Did my sensei believe me? No. Did any of the students? No. Except for one. Shisuke. There wasn't enough evidence to prove I did anything, but I couldn't go back to school. Not there. My reputation was ruined.

I stayed in my room for three weeks after that. I only left every once in awhile. I remember the first time I left my room was five days after it happened. Shisuke showed up all beaten up and bruised. I asked him what happened and you know what he said?

"After all that went down and the students found out, they were brutal man. They kept calling you nicknames, and… and me too, you know? They called me stuff too, because I am really close friends with you."

"You are?" I asked him, "you mean you still want to be friends with me after all that."

"Of course Matoi, why wouldn't I? Look, I am your friend, okay? I know you. I know what stuff you like. I know what stuff you don't like. I know what stuff you do. I know what stuff you don't do. And I also know, that what they are accusing you of doing is one of those things you wouldn't do."

"Thanks, I needed to hear that. So about your face?"

"Oh, yeah. Back to that. Like I was saying, they called us both stuff, and eventually they started pestering me about you asking, "Why'd he do it?" "What gives him the right to treat her like that?" and "Just who does he think he is?" You know that kind of stuff."

"And what' you tell them?"  
"I told them… I looked 'em in their stupid faces and said "Go to hell! He's not that kinda person."

"No way!"

"Yeah. I said it and then…"

"You got your ass kicked?"

"Yeah… Then I got my ass kicked. But… you know what? It felt good!"

"Alright masochist, calm down."

"Not that part! Standing up for my friend. Because, no matter what happens we will be there for each other. So come back to school. At least finish this year and we can get into a high school far away from Norikama and leave all these idiots behind. What do you say? I kinda need you to say yes, I might not make it if I go back alone. Come one, man."

And I agreed. But the rest of that school year was hell. Although, looking back on it, it would have been a much worse hell without Shisuke there.

"Okay, Matoi, you either also crashed on the steps or you are in a very deep train of thought."

Just reminiscing.

"Let's just go to school already, okay?"

"Yeah sure."

And with that, we began walking towards our new life, heading straight for our future which lay in wait at Saijo High.

Our future that was… uneventful.

Yeah, I was bored basically all day long. I still met up with Shisuke after school though.

"Hey, Matoi, can I ask you something? Two something's actually."

"Sure."

"Okay! First, did you see that girl in the front row on the right? She is so my type!"

"Is that the question?"

"No, the question is, do you want to go out with her?"

"We've only been here for one day and you're already hunting for girls out of your league? Really Shisuke?"

"She is totally in my league, and even if she wasn't, I would so level up for her!"

"Its not a videogame Shisuke. And besides, do you even know her name."  
"Um, no I don't but I have a good excuse for that."  
"Which would be?"

"I was distracted by her perfect beauty, so I wasn't listening."

"Well, that definitely sounds like you."

"Haha, yeah! Anyways the second question. Was it just me, or did today really suck? Well, except for Front Row on the Right Girl."  
"First, do not call her that if you ever want a shot with her. Second, yes. Today really sucked. I almost fell asleep in my first class and I slept like a baby last night."

"Ugh. Last night. Don't remind me. I had the creepiest dream ever."

He had a weird dream too? I wonder what it was. Was I going to ask? Yes, yes I was.

"A creepy dream? What was it about?"

"Well, I was just alone in this weird room and a voice was talking to me about "inner power" or some mystic stuff like that."

"That doesn't sound too creepy."

Well, minus the fact that I had a very similar dream, which is definitely creepy.

"Well, that wasn't the creepy part. The creepy part was how realistic it felt. Like, I was standing in some liquid and my feet actually felt wet."

Woah. What is happening?

"The voice starting telling me about how I need to become stronger if I want to protect my friends and then he told his name was…"

"Venus?"

"What? No. That's not what he said his name was at all. He said his name was Abyssius. Where the heck did you get Venus from?"

"Uh, um…. Nowhere. It just popped into my head out of nowhere."

"Then you might want to get it checked out. Anyways he said his name after I asked who he was and he was all like…"

I cut in again.

"I am thou and thou art I?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"I had a similar dream. Everything was the same except I was talking to Venus."

"So, that's where Venus came from?"

"Yeah, but Venus said "I am thou… and thou art I. I reside in thy heart and resonate with thy soul. Know my name as I know yours, Matoi Nakoto. I am Venus." and and then he disappeared.

"In my dream, Abyssius said "I am thou… and thou art I. I flicker like the heat that is borne from thine flame. Radiant only when reflected from your soul. Know my name as I know yours, Shisuke Yamamoto. I am Abyssius." And… then he disappeared."

"This is so weird."

"Yeah, super creepy now. I thought it was just normal creepy before. You don't think it means anything do you?"

"No, it couldn't have. It's just a coincidence. A really… too coincidence to be a coincidence coincidence."

"Matoi, I'm the smart one and I couldn't follow that. Did you check your phone after you woke back up?"

"No, it was 12:01, I was tired!"

"Wait, you woke up at 12:01 too!"  
"You are just messing with me now."

"No I swear, and I checked my phone when I got up since I don't use an alarm clock…"

"That explains a lot actually."

"Back on topic. After I woke up, my phone was lit up and I had received a message."

"No! Don't tell me, it was from a phone without a number, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, and all it said was…"

And this part we said in unison.

"It begins."

We both froze, not knowing what to do with this information. This was either a very elaborate and difficult prank, or it wasn't a prank at all and something big was happening. I didn't want to think about it.  
"I'm going home," I finally said, breaking the silence.

"Whoa, wait, wait, hold on! What are we going to do about this?"

"What is there to do?"

"Well, one of us could sleep and the other stay awake and see if something happens."

"But then one of us won't have enough sleep."

"Stop complaining."

"I'm not. You're my friend. I care about you."

"That's so sweet. Then it's a deal. I'll sleep and you'll stay up," he says walking past me.

"Where are you going? And that's not what I meant!"

"Your house! Don't care!"

"But…. Shisuke."

"Matoi. Stop being a Fool. This is a mystery, and we can solve it. So let's solve it."

"Ugh, fine!"

And so we went back to my room, where we explained absolutely nothing to my parents relative to the actual reason he was spending the night, and instead lied about Shisuke not wanting to be late for school on the second day. As if he really cared. He was going to be late for no matter where he started. He could have slept at school and might not have made it to class on time.

Anyways, back on topic, we waited around in my room until midnight. It was pretty uneventful, so it turned to us playing video games and talking about girls pretty fast. Okay, I was playing games while Shisuke talked about girl. Oh, I'm sorry. She has a name.

"I'm telling you man, Front Row on the Right Girl is amazing."

"Can you not call people you know nothing about amazing. She might be the worst human ever."

"No dude, she's awesome."

"Oh, yeah? What's something she likes to do."

"Learn math."

"Just because she's in math class doesn't mean she likes to learn math. I'm in math class. I don't like to learn math."

"Okay, then she likes to… she…"

"She what? What does she?"

"She likes to sit in the front row on the right."

"Oh really? How'd you come up with that one?"

"Look, okay I'm telling you. She is great. It's called a man's instinct."

"Then why don't I think it too?"

"Easy, little boy's like you can't have a man's instinct. It's in the name."

"So you're a man and I'm not. What are the qualifications of being a man then? Do they have to be late for school, crash on the same spot everyday and fawn over a girl they know nothing about, not even her name?"

"Sounds about right actually."

"Does a man also have to make his friends stay up until midnight to see if some stupid superstition of his is correct or not?"

"Dude. Something weird is definitely happening. There is no way our dreams are a coincidence. It's too creepy to be."

"Yeah, well it's 11:59 now and nothing's happened yet, so I think it's safe to say, you are crazy."

"I bet you're not gonna think I'm crazy when that clock turns midnight and something weird…"

He stopped mid sentence. That never happens with Shisuke. Sometimes he doesn't stop talking after the sentence is over.

I turn my head up from the game I'm playing and I notice three things right away. First, everything I see has a blueish tint to it. Second, the clock beside my bed says 12:00. And the thing that scared me more than I'd ever been scared before. Third, Shisuke was completely frozen mid sentence.

The room was dead silent. Nothing was making a noise. Not my game. Not the streets outside. Not even the loudest thing in the room. Shisuke. Everything was frozen, silent, and slightly blue.

Then I remembered the end of the dream, when the blue light flashed and erased the darkness. Unlike that blue, this one didn't leave me feeling secure. It made me feel… uneasy. In short, I was scared. I felt like, even though I could see Shisuke and all the lights from other houses outside my window, I was alone. And that was the scariest part.

I didn't feel alone for long however, and something else quickly came to scare me even more. My phone started ringing. One ring… two rings… three rings… There was no phone number, there was no cryptic message, the only thing of text on the screen of my phone was the words hovering over the big green button in the center of the screen.

"Answer."

The worst part, I was thinking about pressing that button. And I was about to, when someone knocked on my door, making me jump out of my skin, into heaven, then back down to Earth and into my skin.

I jerked my head nervously between the door and the phone, wondering what I should do, and how that choice was going to affect me, physically, emotionally, and most importantly, psychologically.

"Who's there?" I asked, sounding so weak and terrified, like I was a small child lost and asking for help to find their mommy.

No one answered. Either because I was crazy or because they wanted to kill me. Either one seemed very believable.

I reached for the phone to answer it, thinking to myself "the first evil is always less evil."

I came so close to hitting the green answer button when my door slung open and my hand slung my phone. Into the wall. Shattering it.

In walked two men. One man was the epitome of a nightmare. He was an old man with ears of an elf, in that they were very, very pointy. His nose looked sharp enough to use as a weapon, and was long enough to wield as one, plus he had huge, bloodshot eyes that pierced through your very skin and soul. He was wearing a black suit with white gloves, that matched his silver hair, and he walked around leaning on a cane that went to what appeared to be the top of his hip, but he was a very tall and slender old man.

The other guy was considerably less of a terror to behold. He stood slightly shorter than the old man and was wearing a blue suit instead of the black one the old man was wearing, but was still wearing white gloves. His face made him look like he was a teenager, but his posture and aura made him seem much older. His face was normal enough. No pointy ears, no sharp nose, no bloodshot eyes. He was wearing a golden earring and he had brown eyes, plus his hair was blonde to the point of almost being white. Basically, except for the clothing choices and light hair, they looked like the complete opposite of each other.

"Who are you two and what are you doing here?"

The old man spoke in a very spooky but also oddly relaxing voice. "What are we doing here, do you know what this place is?"

"Yeah, it's MY room. I would appreciate it if you told me why you just barged into MY room."

"But, Matoi, this is not your room. This is just a recreation of your heart. A place that makes you calm."

"No this is… wait, you called me Matoi."

"Since when is it wrong to call a young man by his name?"

"It's not. It's wrong when a complete stranger knows it. Who are you?"

"Why, don't you want to know where you are first?"

"I know where I am! This is my room!"

He turns around and look at the young man behind him. "Does this space belong to this young man?"

He replies by shaking his head no.

"My partner says this space does not belong to you."

"Oh, really? So if this isn't my room where am I?"

"Oh, you'd like an introduction? I'm sure that would be fine, right Alexander?"

The man… I mean, Alexander replies "I'm sure it is. He is here after all."

"Okay then, are you ready to hear what I have to say Matoi Nakoto?"

"What else can I do?"

"That's the spirit! Now, listen closely, it's important." He says this, then focuses his gaze on me. I feel my soul being penetrated by his glare. HIs face distorts into a smile, the kind of smile that makes grown men pee themselves after seeing it in a dream, and in that oddly calm voice of his he says to me one single sentence that sends shivers down my spine.

"I am Igor, and welcome… to the Velvet Room."


	3. Fool (II)

**The Fool (II)**

 _Front Row on the Right Girl_

" _In the beginning, there was nothing except a plan for the end and a will to carry out that plan."_

After hearing those words, I got chills so bad it made me freeze where I was standing. It felt like that dream again, and just as real, only now there was no doubt about how real it was. I wasn't dreaming, and if I was, I needed to stop sleep altogether.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," he says again, "This place exists between conscious and subconscious. Mind and matter. What is considered reality, and what is considered fantasy. This is where dreams become dreams and hope becomes hope. Here locks are unlocked and chains unbound. This is the place that connects you to yourself. Your inner self. We refer to this as… Persona"

Did he just say… my inner self. No way. Is this also connected to that dream somehow. Not that I even believe what he's saying but, is he being serious? How much does he know.

"I'll take it from here, if you'll allow me Igor."

"Feel free Alexander, you need the training."

"This room may appear to look exactly like your room back home, in fact, it does look exactly the same as how you left it, but this room is special in that way. My brother and I created this space nearly twenty years ago for Persona users with high spiritual sensitivity just like us. Any questions so far?"

"Oh, no, just about all of them."

"Good then."

I can't believe he said that smiling. I was clearly being sarcastic.

"This is a place for people who have unlocked the potential or have the potential locked away inside their souls to wield Personas. It helps them with forming bonds with those Personas and other people that can help strengthen their potential. These bonds are part of a phenomenon we call "Social Links" and they play a vital role in developing your skills."

"Okay, I don't know what's going on here, but I don't really believe in all this inner self, Persona, Social Link, whatever else you're trying to tell me. It just doesn't seem realistic to me."

"I want to tell you something and I really want you to take heed of what I'm saying. Just because something doesn't seem realistic, doesn't mean it isn't real. And I would also advise that you take heed of the opposite of that. Fantasy might not be as fantastic as you think."

Igor cut in. "Alexander, you must have been paying close attention to my words. I couldn't have said it better myself."

"Thank you Igor. I'm really excited to finally have the chance to do this for you, and I just want to be the best assistant I can possibly be. I owe it to Theo, Elizabeth, and all of them. They raised me and taught me so much."

Igor made a face that would make you think he just saw a mirror. In case you don't understand that joke, he looked scared. "Yes, I know. You learned a lot from all of them. That's what scares me."

Alexander smiled, and even though he looked completely normal, it was somehow scarier than the smile Igor gave earlier. "I know sir. It scares me too. But back to the matter at hand."

He looks back at me. "I know you don't want to believe in all this, and it might seem strange to you, but I could have sworn you'd talked with your Persona already, did you not? He should have explained things."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

After all, that dream last night was just that. A dream.

"Oh, according to the compendium, Venus began to awake last night, along with two others. Abyssius and Sasagamine."

"I did have a dream last night where a voice that called himself Venus talked some inner self stuff to me, but that was just a dream."

"No, Matoi, that was Venus, your Persona, communicating with you. The only reason you are here talking to us right now is because your Persona is starting to awaken."

"No, that can't be true."

"Yes it is," said a familiar voice. It was Venus.

We just stood there in a very awkward silence.

After the awkward silence became a really awkward silence, I decided to speak again.

"So, if I'm here because my Persona started to awaken, why is Shisuke still frozen? He was telling me about something called Abyssius talking to him in a dream, just like Venus did to me."

"Honestly, that is a question that has an answer even unknown to me. I wish I could tell you more, but it might just be that his Persona is not far enough along in its awakening to grant him access here. I assure you, the reason he is not here has nothing to do with his level of spiritual power, he has more than enough. It would make sense that you would arrive before the others."

"The others? Are there more than Shisuke and the other person, the one with Sasagamine?"

"Perhaps, but I am unable to disclose that information to you. At least, at this moment. I only mentioned the Persona names, after all, I am not allowed by my superiors to release the names of the actual users of those Personas. That information is confidential I'm afraid."

"I guess that makes sense. The confidentiality makes a lot more sense than anything else that's going on here."

"Yes. I suppose someone that is experiencing this part of reality for the first time must think something like that. I know my brother and I did."

"When you experienced this part of reality for the first time. So… you weren't always in this situation?"

"Oh, no. I'm a human just like you, and one with a very immense amount of spiritual power. The Personas of a person usually awaken when three conditions are met. When an outside force unlocks the ability buried deep inside of a qualified person. When a person with a strong potential for wielding Personas comes into direct contact with their world in some way. And when a person bears a strong spiritual affinity."

"I don't think some of these things have ever happened to me. Not before I was brought here."

"You'd be surprised what has happened to you that you don't recall, Matoi."

"Well… that's cryptic."

"Very much so, but in some rare cases these three things don't necessarily need to occur. Well, not as long as at least one of them does. This is the way it was for me. I had a very strong spiritual presence, and when I was forced into a situation where it was life or death, I summoned my Persona."

Igor cut in, "And soon after my master and I showed up and took him and his brother in. After all, it was the first time in a long time that a human had summoned a Persona outside of the Persona's realm, and for a human child to have did it was unheard of. Even still, this young man summoned his Persona, and it wasn't a weak one either. Rather, Alexander's is one of the strongest we've ever seen."

"Yes. My Persona is one that wasn't even in the compendium, as it is an ancient power that none have summoned in quite some time. His name is Vanitas. I would offer to summon him and show him to you, or to tell you more about my past, but we are almost out of time. 'The world will resume soon, when the blue velvet fades away.' Its from a poem I am writing, and it is very true indeed. The world will resume soon. Feel free to tell Shisuke. I'm sure we'll be meeting soon. Goodbye for now."

They turn and head towards the door.

"Wait, I have another question."

The blue things in my room start to change back into the colors they are supposed to be.

"Stop! I have more questions! I need answers!"

The blue was almost completely gone, and they had closed the door.

"I said wait! You can't just tell me all this stuff and then leave me here without answers! You want me to believe you, but then you run away? Igor! Alexander! Answer me!"

"Igor and Alexander? Who are they?"

Shisuke was awake and as I turned around to answer him, I noticed the clock said 12:01.

He had no idea who those two were and to be perfectly honest, I didn't really know myself. It was strange… I kind of felt safe. I'm not sure what it says about my character and sense of judgment to feel perfectly safe around two strangers who claim and appear to be part of a completely different realm of reality, but I did. And that's the thing. I felt safe and for some reason… I wanted answers about that world. The world I never knew about but am apparently a part of.

Its not normal to have these thoughts, and I barely had much in common with anyone, but maybe… just maybe… I can find people like me thanks to this situation.

I explained everything to Shisuke and after us talking and thinking about what to do, we decided on a plan.

"Okay, so we are going to do two things. First, we are going to keep an eye out for the person with Sasagamine," Shisuke said.

"Yeah, and we are going to answer that phone call at midnight next time."

Sadly, the next day at school was also uneventful. It makes sense since no one was really in the mood yet. Not even our teachers looked like they wanted to be here. Shisuke and I really didn't, because of all the stuff that happened for the past few nights. To be honest, we were excited and intrigued, which I guess is the human nature when they come upon a mystery. Something that was not able to be explained, because whatever this Persona stuff is certainly falls into that "unexplainable thing" category. We kept an ear out for anyone that was talking about something similar happening to them but we never heard anything. We began to think it was just us, and before we headed home that afternoon, we met up outside the school to talk a little bit first.

As per usual, I was there before Shisuke, since that guy seems to be late to everything. It was at this point when some things started to go into play that would change our situation drastically. But, I probably shouldn't be so blatant with my foreshadowing, should I? The point is, when Shisuke FINALLY showed up, I just had to ask him

"What took you so long?"

"Sorry, I was talking to someone."

"Did you find someone that had the same dream experience we had?"

"Well, no… I don't know."

This guy. What does he, am I right?

"Who was it?"

"What?"

"The person you were talking to idiot!"

Yes I hit him on the head. Yes he deserved it.

"Ow! It was Front Row on the Right Girl!"

Yes I hit him on the head again. Yes he deserved it again.

"She has a name!"

"Oh, yeah? What is it then smart guy."

"Oh no! I'm not telling you, if you want to figure it out you're gonna have to actually be a good person and listen for once."

"I know what it her name is, I just want to make sure you aren't being mean to me for something you're guilty of too!"

"Fine! Her name is Haku Saijo."

"See, was that so hard?"

He says this while writing something on his arm.

"Shisuke, what are you writing?"

I say this while grabbing his arm.

"Are you serious?"

I say this while reading what he wrote on his arm. Haku Saijo.

"You really didn't know her name!"

"Hey, it's not my fault! How the heck am I supposed to know her name is Haku Saijo if she never told me? Wait, Saijo! As in the school!"

"Yes, her father is the guy over the school. And to answer your other question, that goes back to the being a decent person thing, because the teacher says her name during attendance check at the beginning of every class, so if you just listened to the teacher once you would know her name."

"I can't be expected to know everyone's names. Why do you even know? I thought you said you didn't like her."

"I don't like like her, but I'm also not a moron."

"Neither am I! Don't forget I have better grades than you!"

"Being smarter doesn't mean you aren't an idiot."

"Gah! Can we just stop with this conversation?"

"Sure. So… what were you two talking about anyways?"

He mumbles something inaudible. Which, when he was supposed to be answering my question, is kind of a pointless thing to do right?

"Dude. Didn't hear that."

"I said I wa… (insert inaudible garbage here)"

Really. Really? Really!?

"Shisuke. What the heck were you two talking about? Did you already ruin your chances with her that you never had?"

"No! I was just bragging!"

"Hah! About what. Other than your grades the only thing you're good at is being chronically late."

"I was bragging about standing up to bullies for you and about how some strange stuff has been going on and we're trying to get to the bottom of it."

"Really? Did she know anything about the number or anything."

"She didn't say. She kinda just laughed and walked away. But… she laughed so she must think I'm funny right. Hahaha!"

No one would believe that laugh wasn't forced.

"Unless she was laughing at you, sure."

We both laughed for a little bit. Which is kinda sad considering we were laughing at him getting laughed at by the girl he's crushing on, but whatever. Then he stopped laughing and his look changed.

"On a more serious note though, when you asked if she knew anything about what was going on, I answered the way I did for a reason."

"Well, you just said no then paused and said you didn't know so… I don't see how that's helpful."

"I said I didn't know because after she walked away I kept my eyes on her."

"Because you're a stalker?"

"Yes becau…. No! Not a stalker. What I'm trying to say is she pulled her phone out and called someone almost as soon as she turned the corner."

"How would you know that unless you were…"

"..."

"Dude. Not cool."

"What!? I had to figure out if she was hiding anything from us, like if she knew about the messages from a phone with no number, the persona thing, or like, you know, if she had a boyfriend."

"Dude!"

"Oh shut up! Listen, I didn't catch the whole conversation but what I did hear was something we might need to think about and figure out."

"What was it? Something about a guy she likes?"

"No, something that might be about what's been happening. She said something about a "House" and "Midnight." I'm thinking, either she or whoever she was talking to knows a lot more about what these Personas are than we do."

"Sounds like it."

"So, what do we do? You wanna go chill at my house until midnight since we went to yours last night?"

"Sure, I don't see what it could hurt."

With that, we went to Shisuke's house. His parents weren't there because they were staying in Norikama. Basically, we had the place to ourselves, and in the near future that was going to be a big help to us. And by near future I mean after the events that occurred that night, exactly one minute after 11:59.


End file.
